Aspiring to play at higher level
Preparation, confidence help Moon rise at Gonzaga
Despite being the youngest guy on the team, Billy Moon knew what it would take to successful in Division I baseball.
The former Greater Spokane League most valuable player and four-year letter winner from University High School found himself playing both ways – playing right field and doubling as the closer for Gonzaga University in his first season in a Bulldog uniform.
“I think the most important thing you need to have to be successful in this game is confidence,” Moon explained. “You have to have confidence in yourself. If you don’t, you might just as well quit playing.”
Confident, but not cocky.
The 5-foot-9 left-hander learned confidence in his own ability early on – a trait that served him well in four years at University, three of them as an All-GSL player.
“I learned it from playing so much,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of games over the years – when you get right down to it, it’s all I really know. There were times when I would go out to pitch and my arm would be sore. If I worried about it and started to doubt my ability to pitch, I’d have trouble. But if I went out there and forgot about how my arm hurt and just pitched like I knew I could get guys out, it worked.
“That’s where my confidence comes from. I just learned to trust myself and believe in myself.”
Moon said he went into his first collegiate season ready and willing to work hard and take whatever opportunity came his way – “Just take it as it goes,” he says.
If it meant redshirting his first season, that was fine, he said. If it meant playing a few innings here and there, that was good, too. You have to earn your playing time, he insists.
It turned out to be so much more.
“I got hurt early in the spring,” he explained. “When I got back, I was hoping to get some innings as a middle reliever. Before I knew it, I was closing games and pitching in pressure situations trying to lock down wins for my team.”
And when he wasn’t closing out games, he was playing right field for the Bulldogs.
“By the end of the season, I was playing right field and, when they needed me, I would go over to the bullpen between innings and warm up,” he said. “When they needed me, they brought me in from right field.”
Moon started 13 games for Gonzaga, hitting .327 with a home run and a dozen runs batted in.
“I really started to get in a groove at the plate,” he said. “I was seeing the ball real well.
“It really helped me that I played last summer with the Spokane River Hawks. There are a lot of college-level players. Most of them were community college level guys, but there were some Division I-level guys there, too. It showed me that I could hit college-level pitching and that gave me a lot of confidence going into the D-1 season.”
On the mound, he appeared in 16 games, pitched 23
A starting pitcher throughout his prep career, Moon took easily to pitching in relief.
“Over the years I’ve built up my arm from pitching a lot of innings,” he explained. “I could go out there and not hold back at all. I think that helped.”
As the kind of player who loves to play every day, Moon is suited for the role.
“I love to play,” he said. “I like knowing that I can get into any game and help the team nail down a win.”
Hitting against Division I pitching took some adjustment – especially when it came to knowing what pitch to look for.
“I think the biggest difference between high school pitchers and college pitchers, besides confidence, is a change-up,” Moon said. “In high school you don’t see very many change-ups. At this level, you’ll see guys that only have two pitches: a great fastball and a very good change-up. And they’re successful with just those two pitches.
“As a hitter, to see a ball come out of the pitcher’s hand that looks like a fastball, but is 10-miles per hour slower can really mess you up.”
As a pitcher, you have to learn to keep hitters honest.
“You have to be able to move the ball inside and out to keep them honest,” he said. “You can’t just sit on the inside because you have stronger guys with metal bats. They can turn on that inside pitch and hit it a long, long way.”
Moon said he’s already working hard to get himself ready to continue his dual role next season. He’s lifting weights five days a week to make himself stronger (“I want to add more power to my swing,” he said.)
And he’s playing both roles for his summer league team – the Wenatchee Apple Sox.
“The Spokane River Hawks are no more – they’ll be back next year in Coeur d’Alene,” he said. “This team is in the same league that they were in and the makeup of the team is the same.
“I’ve been dividing my time between playing center, right and designated hitter. And I’ve already had two appearances (pitching) in our first eight games.”